Tony: Alright, I got picked as the lookout.
Last time I forgot my signal mirror, letís see what I got here.
Binocs, my mirror, definitely got the sunscreen, batteries.
Good position here-nothing obscured but man what I hump it was to get up here.
Thereís a lot of continuous fuel thatís probably gonna be a big problem if the fire
gets up into there and then starts moving through.
Starting to see some scout clouds out on the horizon-thunderstorms might be today.
If that crew keep goiní and punching line all the way around, I think weíre gonna have
to think about getting a new safety zone.
Ya from up here, boy Iíve got really good commo with Division, with the ICP, I can hear
dispatch pretty good so Iíll let them know if I can be a human repeater for them.
Tony: In selecting a lookout, basically look for someone starting off with a good background
in fire behavior and another thing is just having common sense.
Being able to reason things out, good communication skills, someone that you know is gonna be
competent and trusted.
The whole idea is to have everyone to come home at the end of the day safely.
So what you want, whether theyíre the best person out there digging, or the hardest worker,
in a way thatís what you want them to be also-the best person out there being your
lookout.
Where to place a lookout is one of the big things.
Is it a point where you can see the whole fire?
Is it a place to where itís gonna be safe for the lookout if something does happen?
And how long will it take you to get there, how long will it take you to get out?
Along with that, youíve got to plan to be out there for quite awhile.
Water, food, extra batteries, maybe even at times taking a sleeping bag or something.
You get dropped off by a helicopter out in the middle of nowhere-itís one of the strangest
things to know that youíre being left out here over night and you donít have enough
stuff to deal with it.
A roving lookout can be used in a lot of situations.
Most people think of a lookout as being on a faraway place.
Maybe youíre doing a long burnout and youíve got to have someone that can see the whole
show and move along and watch for things as youíre moving.
Another thing could be a roving lookout within the fire itself.
Maybe just in those certain instances where they are in a dangerous spot.
Maybe itís for rolling rocks.
Maybe youíre in a snag patch, but have that as a dedicated person to do that-not having
their head down, and looking up every few minutes because it usually happens whenever
you look away.
Safety zones are a big thing that a lookout should be aware of and the other thing is-where
are they in location to the crews?
And where are they after the crews start moving through the woods, can they get back to that?
Or do they need a new safety zone, and just in case your route to the safety zone is compromised,
the lookout can give good feedback and say well no, your route to the safety zone is
compromised-I see another place over here.
They can guide you to a new one.
Using aircraft as a lookout is okay for a short time.
By s short time I mean from a minute to maybe five to ten.
Just for that for being like a scout-looking out, maybe seeing something over the ridge,
is there something here that you can see?
But nothing to really rely on because aircraft-they canít see a lot of stuff at times from one
good vantage point.
Theyíre moving all the time.
They have to go back, they have to fuel up.
So generally, I do not like to use aircraft as a designated lookout.
Walking up to the lookout spot, mainly start thinking about the fire behavior thatís going
to happen here later on.
Especially looking at the vegetation, feeling things-especially the green.
I like to go up, feel what the live fuel moisture is in some of the plants, checking things
out.
Especially you know, if the fire comes over here, what the vegetation is gonna be like.
Take a look out and see what weíve got-see if I can look out over here and see what theyíre
working in.
Fire behavior is one of the main things that youíve got to watch for, whatís the spotting
potential?
What would happen if the wind shifted?
The fire behavior deals a lot with the weather too, so they both coincide hand in hand.
Youíre going to be looking at trends; yup it is getting hotter and drier.
Iíve got such and such RH here, what do you got?
Ya know, listening to what they have.
What are discrepancies that youíre hearing?
And if theyíre not picking it up, let them know.
So, just donít be a no-brainer hiking to your spot.
Looking at the fuels, ya know what would happen if?
Youíve got to do the what-if game over here.
And thatís what you have to do when you look back over at whatever your crew is working
in, or whoever is out there.
Communications is one of the most important part, I think, of being a lookout.
You could have a great fire behavior background, you could be one of the best observers, but
to be able to communicate what you see is a great asset.
The lookout can be used a communication link, especially during logistical times.
Getting to ICP, talking maybe to dispatch, they can be used as the human repeater.
The communication part covers a lot more than just telling somebody yes, there is a spot
over here.
Make the crews know that they can contact you, feel comfortable talking.
You donít want to be standing out there for a long time not saying anything at all.
You need to give them some sorts of observations and the other thing is getting feedback from
them-where theyíre at.
Whatís their position on the fire?
If you start listening and somebody keeps calling somebody over and over, and thereís
no repeat, break in and say hey, I can either be the human repeater or maybe theyíre on
a different channel.
Maybe theyíre talking to someone else.
You have to be observing not only with your eyes but with your ears at the same time.
Youíve got to know your way around how to deal with a radio, how to change frequencies.
Not cloning the radio, but being able to put in frequencies.
Know whether you are working with narrow band or wide band.
And a lot of times youíre working a fire without an IAP-they donít have those frequencies.
And sometimes itís either communicated over the radio or either at a briefing right off
the bat.
Thatís one of the most important parts-being able to switch back and forth and putting
in a frequency really quick.
Most crews have their own little internal channel to talk on when theyíre doing things.
You donít necessarily have to monitor that, but being careful; they usually have a lot
of good information on whatís going on and a lot of times, thatís not being communicated
outside of that crew or outside of that little area.
Where it could be critical to with people on both sides of them, or to the whole fire
overall.
To have someone state that from that crew-either the crew boss, or even one of their lookouts,
being in communication with them is real good.
If you see something that is gonna happen right away, or if you observe something that
might-and youíre not sure of, itís good to let the crews know as soon as possible.
The timing can be a real critical factor.
It could mean the difference between walking away from it and getting in a safe place,
to the point of running away and maybe even sometimes not getting out of there.
So the best thing is not to wait until the last minute until you think that itís going
to either take off or itís not gonna do this, do that.
If you need to communicate something to the crew, do it as soon as possible so they have
time to react to it.
Being a lookout is not the sexiest job, but it is the most important.
We need to change the idea that the lookout is just some slug out there, that nobody wants
on the fire and they can get rid of them somehow, to the point to where ya, I want to be the
lookout because itís the most important job that they have out here.
Everybody can do different jobs on the fire-no problem.
But being the lookout is definitely a specialized job that youíre using a lot of your knowledge
and the things that you know to help keep people safe.